Evrensel named Restaurateur of the Year

Trade publication honours Araxi owner at Toronto banquet

Jack Evrensel, owner of Araxi Restaurant in Whistler and three
Vancouver restaurants, has been named Restauranteur of the Year by the trade
publication Food Service and Hospitality Magazine.

Evrensel was honoured at the 18
th
annual Pinnacle
Awards Banquet in Toronto on Dec. 4.

“I would like to accept this award on behalf of everyone I work
with in Vancouver and Whistler,” said Evrensel, crediting the talented staff
for making Araxi, CinCin, Blue Water Café and West some of the best restaurants
in Canada.

Araxi, Evrensel’s first restaurant in B.C. and one of the first
fine dining restaurants in Whistler, celebrated its 25
th
anniversary
this past fall. Araxi has won numerous awards and the staff is known for their
knowledge and meticulous attention to detail.

Evrensel is also known for renovating at least some part of the
restaurant on an annual basis.

“Everything influences you,” Evrensel said in a release, “some good,
some bad. The important thing is to be open to ideas and never compromise.”

Evrensel moved from Montreal to Whistler in 1980 and opened
Araxi, named after his wife, on Oct. 31, 1981. In 1998 he was named
Restaurateur of the Year by the B.C. Restaurant & Foodservice Association.
Also in 1998, he took his first team of chefs and sommeliers to New York to
support the James Beard House. Evrensel has been a member of the James Beard
Culinary Foundation since 1998 and has led two more culinary teams to James
Beard House, in 2002 and 2006. He is also a founding board member of the Chef’s
Table Society.